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Old 10-02-2020, 06:24 PM   #1
51woodie
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Default '46 Odometer Repair

The odometer in my '46 Super Deluxe quit at 859999. I decided with Covid, shipping and customs costs to Canada, I'd take a shot at it myself. After disassembly I confirmed that the reels on the odometer were jammed, and caused one of the drive gears that transitions from outside to inside the frame to spin on the shaft. That was an easy fix. I cleaned the end of the shaft and the gear hub then soldered them together. The problem with the odometer seems to be that the 4th 5th and 6th reels are progressively stiffer, so when the odometer rolled to 9999, the accumulated resistance overstressed the drive gear train. I have looked at how to disassemble the reels to clean and lube, but I can figure out how they come apart. Anyone have any experience with this process?
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Old 10-03-2020, 11:14 AM   #2
rotorwrench
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Default Re: '46 Odometer Repair

It likely has end pieces that are swaged on to keep the wheels properly spaced so that the little star wheels that go in between the digit wheels will stay in place. It's likely some crud got in there or there is a problem with one of the little wheels that time the change over of the next wheel when they reach the end of number 9. The more wheels that reach number 9 at the same time, the more friction there is in turning all of the wheels together at once.
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Old 10-03-2020, 01:48 PM   #3
51woodie
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Default Re: '46 Odometer Repair

rotorwrench. Thank you for your response. The end pieces are pressed on, so I can't take it apart. As I see it, the problem is the last three reels are stiff to turn. I have been trying to work clock oil down the keyway in the shaft to lube the reels. I've also been turning the 1/10 reel (a lot) by hand, the get the last three reels to move so I can work to get them freed up.

Any other ideas appreciated.
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Old 10-03-2020, 05:25 PM   #4
Hal Beatty
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Default Re: '46 Odometer Repair

The odometer on my '40 did the same thing at 89999... You CAN get the drum apart, but it's hard to do without messing things up. I started with an E-XACTO knife blade and working from one side of the shaft to the other was finally able to get the retaining bushing on one end to move enough to work a small screwdriver between the end "drum" and the bushing. Then keep working the bushing off the shaft. It was a long process that took a lot of patience. You could possibly devise a miniature puller to get the bushings off?

Mine has some damaged teeth on the gears so it's toast. Looking for an odometer drum for a '40 Deluxe with the S-W speedometer...
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Old 10-03-2020, 06:52 PM   #5
51woodie
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Default Re: '46 Odometer Repair

Hal. Thanks for the suggestion. I did get all the reels turning properly, after working some clock oil into the reels via the keyway in the shaft. The problem was, as I suspected, being the reels were stiff to turn, and the collective resistance caused the reels to jam when it trying to rotate the 1000 mile reel. Now all I have to do is put another 1000 miles on the old girl to see if my fix works.
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Old 10-03-2020, 09:23 PM   #6
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Default Re: '46 Odometer Repair

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I disassembled my odometer on my '41 and set back to zero but I can't remember how the wheels came apart. It is doable somehow!
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Old 10-04-2020, 12:41 PM   #7
51woodie
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Default Re: '46 Odometer Repair

This YouTube graphic (at 1:00 min.) shows what is inside the reels that I couldn't get apart. I can better understand how the reels sequence, and why operation would jam up if the reels were not free to turn easily on the shaft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-4VnarnoOU
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